


Home, Here With You

by pensversusswords



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, Inspired By: The Song of Achilles, M/M, Mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 01:47:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5520860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pensversusswords/pseuds/pensversusswords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a precious moment suspended in time, they can lose themselves in each other. </p><p>Anatolios would love Stephanos for every moment there was air in his lungs, for every moment he was permitted, and even after that, he still would. Even if it must be silently and on borrowed time, he would always love Stephanos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home, Here With You

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Christmas present for my darling Lucia, who loves Stevetony and Patrochilles, and so here we have both of them coming together. Merry Christmas dear, I hope you enjoy this <3
> 
> For clarification: 
> 
> Anatolios = Tony Stark  
> Stephanos = Steve Rogers
> 
> I wanted to be authentic in the naming, so I did a little research. I was going to use Antonius but that name has Roman roots and I wanted the etemology to match with the Greek setting... anyways. 
> 
> Plot wise, if you have read The Song of Achilles (you don't have to in order to understand it), this is situated around the time in which they're staying in Chiron's cave, and they've been romantically together for a while. It doesn't really matter for reading it, but if you wanted to know, that's when it's situated in my mind! So they're teenagers at this point.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy! :)

Anatolios had known Stephanos since he was ten years old, and in all the years they’d spent together, he had never stopped being in awe of him.

He was quiet beside him, still in the darkness. They were laying side by side, their hands resting on the grass beside them, their fingers woven together. Occasionally, Stephanos’ thumb would gently brush against the inside of Anatolios’ wrist, his touch light and tender. They were silent, the sounds of nightfall wrapped around them like a cloak as they stared up at the blanket of stars above them, pinpricks of flickering light against the darkness.

It was in moments like these that Anatolios felt the most at peace; when he could let the world around him fade, when it was just the two of them and he could pretend that they were suspended in time. That they wouldn’t wake in the morning knowing that fate had crept a day closer behind them while they slept. Fate, who always crept behind them with greedy fingers, reaching to claim everything that Anatolios loved.

He loved these moments most because Stephanos was his, and his alone, if only for this limited time.

Stephanos was the one to break the stillness of the moment, turning on his side so that he was facing Anatolios. His eyes were intent and watchful on Anatolios, that familiar gaze so soft and fond on Anatolios’ face. Anatolios wanted to melt into his gaze, to let it seep into his bones and make its home there. _This_ , he thought. _This is what I want. Always._

“I wish moments like this could go on forever,” Stephanos murmured, his voice soft and wistful.

Anatolios reached out with his free hand and brushed his fingers against the curve of Stephanos’ cheek. “Be careful now,” he responded quietly, teasingly. He couldn’t for the life of him keep the soft, fond smile off of his face. “You’re starting to sound like a sentimental fool.”

Stephanos’ lips curved into a shadow of a smile, his eyes bright even in the dim moonlight. He brought their joined hands to his mouth and brushed a soft kiss against his palm.

“I’ve always been a fool for you,” he whispered.

A breathy, amused noise ghosted through Anatolios’ lips. “That is one thing we can agree on.”

Stephanos looked at Anatolios carefully, his eyes thoughtful as he looked on. “Don’t mistake me,” he said, after a long moment. “I’m certain that loving you has been the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”

Anatolios shook his head, a small laugh bubbling in his chest. Something soft and warm settled in his gut, emanating enough heat through him that he could feel it spreading to his face. Thankfully, in the darkness, it was unlikely that Stephanos could properly see the flush that had begun creeping over his cheekbones.

It wasn’t unusual for Anatolios to find himself flustered because of Stephanos, his heart fluttering in his chest, palms clammy. Stephanos had always been better with words than he was, able to reduce him to a mess of nerves with a few soft words, an attentive glance.

Silently, Anatolios moved closer, freeing his hand from Stephanos’ grasp, and bringing his hands to rest on either side of Stephanos’ face, cupping his cheeks in his palms. He leaned his head forward, resting his forehead against Stephanos’, his eyes fluttering shut.

“We would do well not to wish for such things,” Anatolios whispered, his voice raw in his throat. “No good can come from wishing for things that we can never have.”

“I would do anything for moments like this with you,” Stephanos responded. He would; Anatolios knew this. Even so, Anatolios could hear the sadness in Stephanos’ voice, the unsaid words that would stay as silent reminders between them, hovering over their shoulders with sharp claws digging into their skin.

“Aristos Achaion,” Anatolios whispered, reaching out and tracing a finger along the line of Stephanos’ throat, brushing across his collarbone, down to the swell of his chest. He paused at the center of Stephanos’ chest, flattening his hand over his heart, palm pressed against the warm flesh, feeling the strong, steady beating within. “You will be a hero. We both know what that means.”

“I will be a hero and I will be happy,” Stephanos whispered fiercely, closing his hand around Anatolios’, holding their hands clasped over his chest. “I will have you.”

Anatolios smiled, a twisted bitter thing. Stephanos’ eyes were blazing; he’d seen that look before. His stubbornness and determination was one of the things Anatolios loved about him. Some time, though, it wouldn’t be enough. His heart ached for the day that Stephanos would have to see that. “We will see,” Anatolios said, softly.

“I will show you,” Stephanos said, leaning forward, brushing a kiss across Anatolios’ cheek, then his mouth. It was a promise. “I could not bear it if you died.”

Anatolios was silent, then, as he moved closer to Stephanos and buried himself in the circle of Stephanos’ arms. As if it were second nature, Stephanos dutifully wrapped Anatolios’ in his firm, gentle embrace, and Anatolios buried his face in the crook of Stephanos’ neck, letting the familiar scent of him fill his nose. The rich and soft musky scent that always hovered around Stephanos, the scent just below that that was purely his lover’s; Anatolios breathed it in, committing it to memory like he had so many times before. It was familiar. It was home.

Anatolios breathed it in and tried to quell the unease in his stomach. He was with Stephanos and it was good. It was with him that he found peace, until he remembered that they were living day to day with a deadline hovering over their heads.

Even so, Anatolios knew he had to cherish these moments. It was the only time that Stephanos was almost still, and even now he had his hands on Anatolios, moving them in a gentle, soft rhythm through his hair, over his back, his thumbs brushing over Anatolios’ face.

Anatolios loved being touched by Stephanos. Loved being looked at by him, loved when his gaze was for him and him alone. He loved how Stephanos’ eyes burned bright like the ocean glinting under warm sunlight, when their hands met and Anatolios feel like they could build universes with their touch.

He loved it all. He loved Stephanos with his whole being, and being loved by him was something he could never grow weary of.

Despite all of this, though, these thoughts were tinged with the foreboding fear that had been hovering in his gut for far too long.

Not for the first time, Anatolios resolved himself to cherish these precious moments while he could.

They lay there together in stillness and quiet, clutching at each other with warm hands and soft touches, their legs tangled together, so close to each other that Anatolios thought that they might as well be one being. Anatolios’ silence was because he knew if he spoke, it would be to tell Stephanos that he lived with the knowledge that Stephanos would die at every moment.

If it were to cause even half of the pain for Stephanos as it did for him, he wouldn’t wish it on his beloved for a single moment.

If he could, he would let Stephanos live in his reality as long as possible.

Though laying side by side, hand in hand, hearts beating against each other, Anatolios suddenly felt like they were worlds apart, separated by the truths of where their paths were destined to lead.

Anatolios was a man of science and he knew the facts; Stephanos couldn’t smash fate’s skull with his shield, and eventually it would creep up behind them when they weren’t looking, claiming them in its cruel embrace. Fate would come for him whether Stephanos wished it or not.

For now, though, they had each other. For now, they could find home in every whispered word, every soft exhale, every reverent touch.

Anatolios would selfishly indulge in every moment he had with Stephanos for as long as he possibly could.


End file.
